


Glow

by inabodycastofglass



Series: Soulmates. [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-06
Updated: 2016-04-06
Packaged: 2018-05-31 16:54:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6478348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inabodycastofglass/pseuds/inabodycastofglass
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nico never takes off his shirt.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Glow

**Author's Note:**

> Based on this post: http://lost-moonlight.tumblr.com/post/74858168591/imagine-though-when-you-find-your-soul-mate-and

Nico never took off his shirt. No one had seen him without it since he was ten. Most people assumed it was because he didn’t want anyone knowing about his soulmate, that he’d already found her.

He hadn’t, of course. He was almost sure such a person didn’t exist for him. And, if he did, he was likely in another country or dead or stuck in a tree.

Even if he were around, it wouldn’t matter. Nico had sworn off love after Percy and Annabeth got married four years ago.

Honestly, who got married at eighteen?

But that didn’t stop him from pushing his palm to his chest late at night, thinking about the features he would have if he found him.

He would have blue eyes. Before meeting Percy, Nico had liked blue eyes. And his smile would light up the whole world. He would be bright, like the sun, and warm. And tall. He would never admit it, but he loved the feeling of another person towering over him. It made him feel safe.

Of course, as he’d grown up, he needed someone to protect him less and less, until he didn’t need it at all. Still, he liked the feeling.

It came as a shock to him when he met Jason, who had everything Nico dreamed about, yet he felt absolutely nothing romantic or sexual toward him. Maybe he was wrong about what his type was. Maybe it was Percy, after all.

No. After admitting to Percy about how he felt almost five years ago, his feelings slowly began to unravel, and he realized what he really liked about him was his hero complex. He wanted to save the world, and Nico wanted to be saved. The way he looked had nothing to do with it.

Then he met Will, med student and tabletop gaming club vice president, at one of the obnoxious school outings Jason dragged him to, and he felt like his heart was going to burst out of his chest.

Visually he was perfect. Eyes, smile, height. His hair was a blond mop and his tan was uneven, but it just made him better. He wasn’t perfect, so he was perfect.

Jason nudged him. “Don’t glower.”

He scoffed and glared up at him. “I am not glowering.”

“You are.”

He huffed and stuck his hands in his pockets. “Whatever.”

They spoke a little after that, and his voice sent waves down Nico’s spine like warm rain. Then a little more at Will’s persistence. Then a little more the next week over coffee. Then they texted each other a few times a day after Will scrawled his number on Nico’s arm. Then almost constantly, from the time Nico woke, until Will went to sleep. Then they started calling each other while Will made his dinner and Nico lied about having more than a pop tart.

When Will invited him over for dinner one Friday night a few months later, he wondered if they’d started dating without him realizing it.

He noticed the night before, as he lay in bed and stared at the ceiling, lost in thoughts of what could be, that the man he’d imagined had begun to look a little like Will. But he couldn’t remember what he’d looked like before.

His chest felt heavy as he looked around Will’s apartment, his pulse racing. He could feel it in his wrists and the backs of his hands.

He learnt that Will was studying to become a doctor in order to save people.

When he was eight, his older brother was hospitalized for his cancer, and he never left alive.

In the four years that followed, he’d seen too many people die. Too many kids. He wanted to try to end that suffering.

It was a heart wrenching tale, but Nico realized then that he really liked Will. And it was terrifying, and he didn’t want to. He wanted to go back in time and erase these feelings and god the look Will was giving him.

At the end of the night, after walking Nico to the door, Will casually touched his arm, and it sent a shock up to his shoulder, not unlike it had many times before.

Except Nico didn’t pull away this time.

So Will kissed him, lightly, and he jumped.

“Sorry, should I not have-”

“No.” Nico reached for his hand and laced their fingers together. “It’s all right.” He looked down, hiding his blush and smile that he tried to keep small. He pulled at him lightly, and Will slipped closer to him.

He kissed Nico again, lips slow and warm and Nico felt like he was going to burst, his entire body hot.

Nico’s back hit a wall, and he hadn’t even realized they’d moved.

Will leant over him, his forearms on either side of Nico’s shoulders holding him up, and this tall mass was like a drug, making his head fuzzy as they kissed, open mouthed, heads turning to get closer, Nico’s hands on Will’s shoulders, roaming down his arms and over his neck.

Will broke it, kissing along his jaw. His breath was hot and his voice rough as he leant into Nico’s ear. “You don’t have to go home, you know. If you don’t want to.”

Nico’s hands constricted on Will’s shoulders as he kissed his neck. He turned his head up and his “okay” came out as a breath.

Will’s hands at his waist nearly shoved him into the room. He pulled Nico around so his back was to the door, and pulled him along until Will fell backwards onto the bed, still holding Nico to him as they fell, making him squeak.

Will burst out laughing at that. And it was happy, full, and a little hysteric, and it made Nico’s stomach do flips in a way kissing him hadn’t.

He hit him lightly in the chest, scowling, but still smiling in the corners of his mouth.

“Sorry, sorry.” Will got out the rest of his laughter and kissed Nico again.

He sat up so Nico was straddling him. And as he sucked lightly on the spot just above the little dip of Nico’s clavicle, his hands found their way under Nico’s shirt, thumbs running along his abdomen, a shiver going through Nico’s body.

“Wait.” He pushed suddenly on Will’s shoulders, making him fall back on the bed with a “fwump”.

Both of them were still, save their heaving chest and racing pulses.

“What’s wrong?” Will sat up on his elbows, looking at Nico with concern. “Do you want to stop? Because we can.”

Nico shook his head.

“Really. I won’t be upset.”

“That’s not it.” He pulled at the hem of his shirt. “I just- I don’t like taking off my shirt.”

“What? Why not?”

Nico closed his eyes tight, slowly crossing his arms.

Will sat up, taking Nico’s hands and uncrossing them. “Are you scared you won’t glow?”

“No, that doesn’t bother me. Well.” He opened his eyes and his heart skipped when he saw the way Will looked at him, like he was somehow precious. “Maybe a little, but no more than normal. It’s just.” He looked down, his voice dropping. “I have scars.”

“Scars?”

He nodded. “They’re pretty bad.”

Will smiled. He turned Nico’s hands in his so they were facing up, and ran his thumbs over his palms. “I like scars.”

Nico looked at him. “Really?”

He glanced up from watching Nico’s hands with his eyes, smirking. “Yeah. I think they’re sexy.”

He flushed, and, for a moment, he smiled. Then he frowned again. “Not mine.”

“Can I be the judge of that?” He wrapped Nico’s arms around his neck. “We could turn the lights off.” He put his hands on Nico’s hips, running them to the small of his back with the slightest bit of pressure. “Close the blinds.” He kissed him, and Nico’s lips followed when he pulled back to continue. “Light some candles.” He kissed his ear. “Turn on some music.” He bit Nico’s ear, and he gasped.

“Are you seducing me?”

Will smiled into his neck. “Is it working?”

Nico took a shuddering breath as Will bit his neck, right below the curve of his jaw. “Yes.”

“Good.”

He flipped them around so Nico was on his back and gave him a lingering kiss before slipping away.

Nico stared at the ceiling, trying to catch his breath, his hand on his chest. He was falling for Will way too hard, and he didn’t see any way he could go back to being alone after this was over.

He turned on his side to watch Will finish lighting what looked like two dozen candles, and walk to the light.

With a look over his shoulder at Nico, he flipped the switch.

The lighting was off. most of the room had a faint, flickering yellow-orange glow to it, but by Will it looked almost pink.

Nico sat up slowly, staring at him with wide eyes.

Even slower Will turned around, staring at his own chest.

It was glowing a soft red through his shirt, pulsing brighter, then slowly fading with every heartbeat.

They locked eyes, looking up at the same time.

Nico tore off his shirt, stopping with it around his elbows. His own chest glowed a deep red, darkened more than Will’s by his olive skin, flashing quickly, slightly uneven by his palpitating heart.

He went to stand at the same time that Will crashed into him, laying on top of him, and kissing him hard.

“I hoped it would be you.” He ran his hands over Nico’s chest, fingers tracing the scars lightly, making him squirm. “I hoped it would be you.”

Nico clutched at him, nails digging into the skin of Will’s back. “Me, too.” He buried his face into the crook of Will’s neck. “God, Will. Me, too.”

Will laughed, the hysteric lilt more obvious now. He took a deep breath of Nico. “Your scars are beautiful.”

Nico laughed, a slight cackle to it that got Will laughing again, too. “Just kiss me, you dork.”


End file.
